Since their move to New Jersey, the Devils have played their home games at the Continental Airlines Arena. This season, the team switched arenas to the Prudential Center, which finished construction in the city of Newark.[2] The first game at the new arena took place on October 27, 2007 against the Ottawa Senators, whom the Devils played against in the last home game at Continental Airlines Arena.[3]

On October 9, 1974, the Scouts took the ice for the first time in Toronto and lost 6-2 to the Maple Leafs. Due to a rodeo being held in Kansas City's brand-new Kemper Arena, the Scouts were forced to wait nine games before making their home debut. Although they lost that game to (ironically) the Black Hawks 4-3, the next night they beat their expansion brethren, the Washington Capitals, 5-4. Like most expansion teams, the Scouts were terrible, garnering only 41 points in their inaugural season. The next season, they won only 12 games—still the worst in franchise history. The Scouts failed to make the playoffs in either season in Kansas City and won only 27 of 160 games.

Although they were better than the Capitals (who won only eight games in their inaugural season), the Scouts began to suffer from an economic downturn in the Midwest. For their second season, the Scouts sold just 2,000 of 8,000 season tickets and was almost $1 million in debt. They finished with only 41 points. Due to these on-and off-ice disappointments, the franchise moved to Denver and was renamed the Colorado Rockies.[8]

Logo of the Colorado Rockies (1976–1982)

The team made a fresh start in Colorado, winning its first game 4-2 over Toronto. They picked up momentum and looked like a possible playoff contender, but things collapsed in February, and the Rockies finished the 1976–77 season with a record of 20-46-14. The next season, despite finishing with fewer wins (they finished 21 games under .500), they managed to edge the Vancouver Canucks out of the last playoff spot by two points, but were quickly eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round.

A lack of stability continually dogged the team; in their first eight years, the Scouts/Rockies went through ten coaches, including eight in their first seven years and none lasting more than one full season. While in Denver, the team changed owners twice.

Prior to the 1978–79 season, owner Jack Vickers sold the team to Arthur Imperatore, who announced that he wished to move the team to the New Jersey Meadowlands. The NHL vetoed the move since the Brendan Byrne Arena was still being built, and there was no suitable temporary facility in the area. In 1979, the team hired Don Cherry as head coach and traded for Maple Leafs star Lanny McDonald, but despite these moves, the Rockies posted the worst record in the league. They played the next two seasons with the possibility of moving until May 27, 1982, when New Jersey shipping tycoon John McMullen purchased the team and announced that the long-expected move to New Jersey would finally come to pass.[9]

The team was renamed the New Jersey Devils on June 30, 1982. Over 10,000 people voted in a contest held by local newspapers to select the name,[11] which is influenced by the legend of the Jersey Devil, an ominous cryptozoological creature supposed to inhabit the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.[12] The Devils' first game ended in a 3-3 tie to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their first win, a 3-2 victory, came in New Jersey at the expense of their new trans-Hudson rivals, the New York Rangers.[13] The team finished with a 17-49-14 record, putting them three points above last place in the Patrick Division.

In the following season, the Devils were publicly humiliated by Wayne Gretzky after they were blown out 13-4 by his team, the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky was upset that former teammate Ron Low played for what he considered an inferior team, and in a post-game interview said:

“

Well, it's time they got their act together, folks. They're ruining the whole league. They had better stop running a Mickey Mouse organization and put somebody on ice.[14]

”

Later, Gretzky publicly admitted that his comment went too far, but privately maintained that his comment was accurate.[15] In response, many Devils fans wore Mickey Mouse apparel when the Oilers returned to New Jersey.[14]

Meanwhile, the Devils had begun building a nucleus of young players. John MacLean, Kirk Muller, and Pat Verbeek all complemented the veteran leadership of Resch. The team's record improved each season between 1984 and 1987. However, the presence of the powerful Islanders, Flyers and Capitals in the Patrick Division meant that the Devils found themselves in a losing battle with the Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins for the division's last playoff spot. The Devils actually finished last in the Patrick in 1986 and 1987 despite improving their record.

Devils primary logo (1982–1992)

Hoping to light a spark under the team, McMullen hired Providence College coach and athletic director Lou Lamoriello as team president in April 1987. Lamoriello appointed himself general manager shortly before the 1987–88 season. This move came as a considerable surprise to NHL circles. Although Lamoriello had been a college coach for 19 years, he had never played, coached, or managed in the NHL and was almost unknown outside the American college hockey community.

The 1987–88 Devils garnered the first winning record in the franchise's 13-year history. On the final day of the regular season, they were tied with their nemesis, the Rangers, for the final playoff spot in the Patrick Division. After New York defeated the Quebec Nordiques 3-0, all eyes were on the Devils, who were playing the Blackhawks in Chicago. The Devils were trailing 3-2 midway through the third period when John MacLean tied the game, and with two minutes left in overtime, he added the winning goal. Although the Rangers and Devils both finished with 82 points, the Devils had one more win, sending them to the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.[16]

The team made it all the way to the conference finals, but lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games. In that series, head coach Jim Schoenfeld verbally abused referee Don Koharski, screaming obscenties and screaming, "Have another doughnut, you fat pig!" The incident resulted in a suspension for Schoenfeld, which the franchise appealed to the New Jersey Superior Court. This unprecedented appeal to authority outside the NHL gave the Devils a preliminary stay of the coach's suspension. In protest, referee Dave Newell and the assigned linesmen boycotted the next game. After more than an hour's delay, amateur officials were tracked down in the stands and worked the game wearing yellow practice sweaters. To resolve the incident, the NHL suspended Schoenfeld for the next game. Schoenfeld later admitted he regretted his comments.[17]

The following season, the Devils once again slipped below .500 and missed the playoffs. Lamoriello made several postseason player changes, notably signing of the first two Soviet stars to play in the NHL: Viacheslav Fetisov and Sergei Starikov. The Devils drafted Fetisov years earlier in the 1983 entry draft, but the Soviet government would not allow Fetisov, who was an army officer as well as a member of the Soviet National Team, to leave the country.[18] Shortly after, the Devils signed Fetisov's defense partner, Alexei Kasatonov.

Under Lemaire, the team roared through the 1993–94 regular season with a lineup including defensemen Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, and Ken Daneyko, forwards Stéphane Richer, John MacLean, Bobby Holik, and Claude Lemieux, and goaltenders Chris Terreri and Martin Brodeur, who was honored as the league's top rookie with the Calder Memorial Trophy.[20] The Devils' first 100-point season earned them the NHL's second-best record behind the New York Rangers. However, due to the NHL's new playoff format, the Devils were seeded third in the East, behind the Rangers and Penguins. The Devils and Rangers met in a memorable Eastern Conference Finals match up, which went seven games. The Devils had lost all six regular season meetings to the Blueshirts, but let the world know they were up for the challenge, after the Devils' Stephane Richer scored the game winning goal in the second overtime. Going into Game 6, the Devils led the series 3-2. Before the game Rangers captain Mark Messier made his famous guarantee that the Rangers would win Game 6. Keeping true to his word, Messier led his team back, netting a natural hat trick, and leading the Rangers to a 4-2 victory (after the Devils were up 2-0). In game seven, the Devils' Valeri Zelepukin tied the deciding game with 7.7 seconds remaining, but the Devils were defeated in double overtime, on a goal by Stéphane Matteau. The series is viewed by many hockey fans as one of the greatest playoff series in NHL history.

Despite the setback, the team returned to the Eastern Conference Finals during the lockout-shortened1994–95 season and defeated the Philadelphia Flyers four games to two. They swept the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings to win New Jersey's first-ever Stanley Cup, and the first major professional sports championship in the state's history. Claude Lemieux was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP. The Devils established an NHL record by posting 11 road victories in one playoff season. The success came amid constant rumors that the team would move for the third time in its history to Nashville, but the club remained in New Jersey.[21]

The 1994–95 Stanley Cup champions

The Devils missed the playoffs by 2 points the following season, with a 37-33-12 record. They were beaten by the Tampa Bay Lightning for the last playoff spot in the East on the last day of the season. It marked the first time in 26 years that a defending Cup champion failed to reach the playoffs. Throughout the remainder of the decade, the Devils failed to live up to expectations. They were ousted by the New York Rangers in the second round of the 1997 playoffs, and were eliminated in the first round by the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins the next two seasons.

But in the 1999–00 season, however, they reached the top again, defeating the defending champion Dallas Stars in six games to win the Stanley Cup for the second time. Stevens, Holik, Lemieux, Niedermayer, and Brodeur, all integral parts of the 1995 team, were augmented with new players acquired in the intervening five years including Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora, Jason Arnott, Alexander Mogilny, and rookies Brian Rafalski, John Madden, and Calder Trophy recipient Scott Gomez. A highlight of the Devils' second championship run was their come-from-behind victory in the conference finals. They trailed the Philadelphia Flyers three games to one, but rebounded to win the series. This was both the first time in Devils playoff history and in NHL Conference Finals history that a 3-1 deficit was surmounted.[22] Team captain Scott Stevens was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy,[23] and assisted on Jason Arnott's Stanley Cup clinching goal in double-overtime of Game 6 in Dallas.

Shortly before this victory, McMullen sold the team to Puck Holdings, an affiliate of YankeeNets, for $175 million. The owners wanted to use the Devils and the New Jersey Nets (also a tenant at CAA) for programming on the YES Network and move both teams to a new arena in Newark. (Neither of these proposals would become reality under Puck Holdings' ownership.)[24] The new owners largely left the Devils' operations in Lamoriello's hands. For the start of the next season, Lamoriello was appointed CEO of both the Devils and Nets. He would remain at the helm of the basketball team until it was sold with the intention of moving it to Brooklyn.[25]

Led by the Elias-Arnott-Sykora line and the stellar play of goaltender Martin Brodeur, the Devils reached the Finals for the second straight year in 2001. They lost the series to the Colorado Avalanche despite leading 3-2 and having game six on home ice. The team's strong regular season was recognized at the NHL's annual awards that year, with Madden becoming the first player in franchise history to win the Frank J. Selke Trophy (for top defensive forward), along with Brodeur and Stevens named as finalists for the Vezina Trophy (top goalie) and Norris Trophy (top defensemen) awards respectively.

In the 2001–02 season, they were expected to be contenders once again.[26] The team finished the season as the 3rd best team in the Atlantic Division, with 95 points. The Devils entered the playoffs as a 6 seed, but lost in the first round to the number 3 seed Carolina Hurricanes.

Martin Brodeur has led the Devils to three Stanley Cup championships, and he is the second winningest goalie in NHL history.[27]

In 2003, the Devils finished first in the Atlantic Division with 108 points, earning the number 2 seed in the East. Their playoff run included a seven game conference final series victory, decided in the final three minutes on a goal by newly accquired forward Jeff Friesen, over the Ottawa Senators, who won the President's Trophy that season. In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Devils and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim had a back and forth battle, with both teams winning only their home games. The Devils brought the Stanley Cup to New Jersey a third time, defeating the Ducks in the 7th game of the Finals in New Jersey. Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko, and Sergei Brylin each won their third Cup, and after the series, Daneyko, a long-time fan favorite,[28] announced his retirement. Despite Anaheim's loss, the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP was awarded to their goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere who was the first player not on the championship team to be named playoff MVP since Ron Hextall in 1987. Some hockey writers speculated a New Jersey player did not win because there were multiple candidates, resulting in a split vote among the sportswriters who select the winner.[29][30] However, Brodeur was awarded the Vezina Trophy as outstanding goaltender in the regular season for the first time in his career.

In the 2003–04 season, Martin Brodeur would take home the Vezina Trophy again. That season, the Devils finished 2nd in the Atlantic Division with 100 points, earning the 6th seed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Like in 2002, the team bowed out in the first round, losing to the Philadelphia Flyers 4 games to 1. In March of 2004, near the end of the season, Lehman Brothers executive Jeffrey Vanderbeek purchased a controlling interest from Puck Holdings and resigned from Lehman Brothers to assume full-time ownership. He had been a minority owner since the 2000 sale.[31]

Vanderbeek was a strong proponent of the proposed arena in Newark, which first received funding from the city council during Puck Holdings' ownership in 2002.[32] After legal battles over both eminent domain and the city's financial participation in the arena project, the final deal was approved by council in October 2004,[33] and the groundbreaking occurred almost exactly a year later.[2] Nonetheless, in January 2006 financial issues threatened to halt the deal, as the Devils did not provide the city with a required letter of credit until the last possible day.[34]

Though construction was well underway, in late summer 2006, Cory Booker, who had recently taken office as Mayor of Newark, promised to reevaluate the deal and considered backing out.[35][36] In October Booker conceded there would be "a first-class arena built in the city of Newark, whether we like it or not",[37] and soon after the Devils struck a deal including both property and monetary givebacks that appeased city officials.[38] The arena, which was named the Prudential Center when Newark-based Prudential Financial purchased naming rights in early 2007,[39] is scheduled to open for the start of the 2007–08 season, with the first game scheduled for October 27th.[40]

The Devils struggled early in the 2005–06 season, ending the 2005 calendar year with a 16-18-5 record.[47] Robinson resigned as head coach on December 19, and Lamoriello moved down to the bench.[48] Once Elias returned from his bout with hepatitis, the team quickly turned around, finishing 46-27-9 after a season-ending eleven-game winning streak capped with a dramatic 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. During that final victory, which clinched the Devils' sixth division title, Brian Gionta set a new team record for goals in a season with 48, topping Pat Verbeek's 46.[49] The win streak to close the year was also an NHL record.[50]

On April 29, 2006, the Devils won their first round Stanley Cup playoff series against the New York Rangers four games to none, extending their winning streak to fifteen games and marking the first time the Devils defeated their cross-river rival in a playoff series. The team's season ended in the next round with an 4-1 Game 5 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, who would go on to win the Stanley Cup.

In the offseason, the Devils hired former Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien to replace Lamoriello behind the bench.[51] However, in the last week of the 2006–2007 Devils season, with just three games left, Julien was fired, and Lamoriello once again reprised his coaching role.[52] The move is reminiscent of Robbie Ftorek's firing with eight games left in the 1999–00 season, after which the Devils won the Stanley Cup. Lamoriello defended the move saying, "I don't think we're at a point of being ready both mentally and [physically] to play the way that is necessary going into the playoffs." The Devils went on to win their seventh Atlantic Division title and earn the second seed in the Eastern Conference after finishing ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins by two points. They defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the first round, but struggled against the fourth seeded Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and lost to them in five games. Their final loss of the series on May 5, 2007 marked the final game of the Devils' 25-year history at Continental Airlines Arena.

The early playoff exit has led to some speculation that this is the "end of an era" for the Devils.[53] This proved to be correct, as on July 1, 2007, long-time Devils Scott Gomez and Brian Rafalski left the team as unrestricted free agents, Gomez to the rival New York Rangers and Rafalski to the Detroit Red Wings. Back-up goalie Scott Clemmensen went to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and local favorite forward Jim Dowd opted for free agency. However, the Devils signed Sabre forward Dainius Zubrus and Ranger defenseman Karel Rachunek shortly after. On July 5, the Devils signed Rangers goalie Kevin Weekes as a backup to Brodeur, as well as Predators defenseman Vitali Vishnevski on July 10. Devils' Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, and Paul Martin all signed six year deals each, later that month also. On July 13, 2007, Brent Sutter was named the 14th head coach of the team, along with previous coach Larry Robinson, to aide John Maclean as the second assistant coach. On August 7, 2007, the Devils signed former Islander Arron Asham. After the Devils preseason came to an end, Devils prospects Nicklas Bergfors and [[David Clarkson made the final roster. The Devils opened their new arena, the Prudential Center, on October 27, 2007 against the Ottawa Senators after opening the season with a nine game road trip. The game ended with a 4-1 win for Ottawa. On October 31, 2007, the New Jersey Devils won their first home game at the Prudential Center by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-1. Jay Pandolfo was the first Devils player to score a hat trick at the Prudential Center.

The Devils have been known as a defense-first team since Jacques Lemaire's tenure, when he implemented a system commonly called the neutral zone trap.[54] This system is designed to force teams to turn over the puck in the neutral zone leading to a counterattack.[55] This style of play, coupled with poor attendance and television ratings, led the team to be chastised by the media and hockey fans for "making the NHL boring".[56] Nevertheless, the Devils were successful using this style of play, and Devils coach Larry Robinson asserted that the Montreal Canadiens (who also won the Cup many times) he played on in the 1970s used a form of the trap, though it did not have a name.[57]

Under Jacques Lemaire, the team adopted less of a trap and more of a transitional, "run and gun" style of play.[58] Players such as John Madden, who excels at shorthanded goals, have led the team in placing a greater emphasis on speed and forechecking for the puck. Likewise Brian Gionta and Patrik Elias are known as strong playmakers on the offensive side of the ice. Newcomers Zach Parise and Travis Zajac emphasize speed and solid puck handling.

The Devils' logo is a monogram of the letters "N" and "J", rendered with two devil horns at the top of the "J" and a pointed tail at the bottom. The monogram is red with a black outline, and sits inside an open black circle. The logo lays on a field of white in the middle of the chest on both uniforms. Prior to the 1992 season, the black circle and outline were green.

Jerseys

The current team colors are red, black and white, and they can be seen on both the home and road jerseys. The New Jersey Devils home jersey is red shirts, black shorts, and red sockst, The road jersey is white shirts, black shorts, and white socks.

Mascot

The current mascot is "NJ Devil", a 7-foot tall devil who plays into the myth of the Jersey Devil. NJ Devil keeps the crowd excited, signs autographs, participates in entertainment during the intermissions, skates across the ice, and runs throughout the aisles of the arena to high five fans.[59]

Prior to 1993, the mascot was "Slapshot", a large Devils hockey puck that would also interact with the fans. However, the man inside the costume resigned after he was accused of improperly touching three women while in costume. The lawsuit and all charges were dropped as nothing could be proven. However, To remove the stigma of the lawsuit, Slapshot was retired and has not returned since[60]

Retired Numbers: The Devils have retired two numbers, both in 2006.[62] On February 3 they retired the number 4 of longtime defenseman and captain Scott Stevens, who spent 13 seasons with the Devils. Career Devil Ken Daneyko's number 3 was retired on March 24. Daneyko, a defenseman, was drafted in 1982 and spent 22 seasons in a Devils uniform.

Hall of Famers: Three Devils players have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov, one of the first two Soviet players in the NHL, played for the Devils from 1989 to 1995 and was an assistant coach from 1999 to 2002; he was inducted in 2001.[63]Peter Stastny, a former center and one of the top goal scorers in the 1980s, played for the Devils from 1990 to 1993 and was inducted in 1998.[64] Scott Stevens was inducted in 2007, his first year of eligibility.[65] Former Devils head coaches Jacques Lemaire (1993–1998) and Larry Robinson (2000–2002, 2005) had been elected as players prior to joining the Devils organization. Herb Brooks (1992–1993), who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic team to victory in the "Miracle on Ice", was inducted in 2006.[66]